The Smartest Thing A Girl Can Do
by The Melon Lord Approves
Summary: "Gran-Gran was right, you know..." Kataang fluff bomb. Cover art by RoseMuse.


**Title-** The Smartest Thing A Girl Can Do  
**Rating-** K+  
**Characters/Pairings-** Kataang  
**Genre(s)-** if fluff were a genre...  
**Summary-** "Gran-Gran was right, you know..."

**A/N-** I was having Kataang feels. Specifically, I was thinking about how sweet Katara's love for Aang is... I mean, seriously. The way she just lights up around him is the most adorable thing in the world, to me. And that's how this was born: out of my need for plotless, pointless Kataang fluff. Plotless, pointless Kataang fluff that was primarily written at three a.m. and is therefore fairly blah.

It's set sometime after The Promise/The Search, but not by more than a couple years. You decide what kind of time frame works for you beyond that.

* * *

Katara had fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder some time ago.

Their latest journey was a long one. They had been visiting her family when a pressing message from the Earth King had called Aang to Ba Sing Se, and even on the back of a sky bison, it was at least a two week trip. Aang had done his best to persuade her to stay and enjoy the time with her father and grandmother, but to his consternation (and secret satisfaction) she had insisted on coming with him.

The route to Ba Sing Se was such a familiar one that Aang had completely abandoned Appa's reins some time ago, allowing the intelligent animal to fly on his own reliable instincts and faultless sense of direction. The urgency of the matter that had called him away dictated that they start each morning's travels early and fly on well into the night, and it was much more comfortable to sit with Katara back in the saddle rather than sitting by himself on Appa's head (though to be fair, if he had chosen to stay at the reins, she would in all probability have joined him there instead).

Night had fallen some hours before, and Aang was starting to think of taking them down to find a campsite. Doing that would mean having to move away from Katara, though, and despite the fact that his arm was stiff and his left foot had fallen asleep an hour ago that prospect was entirely unappealing.

Still, Appa was getting tired. If he was going to be in fit shape to travel tomorrow, they needed to stop.

He dropped a soft kiss on the top of Katara's head. "Sweetie," he whispered into her hair. "Wake up. We're gonna touch down soon."

She mumbled something incomprehensible and to his great amusement nuzzled closer to him rather than moving away.

"C'mon, I've gotta get up," he said, shaking her gently.

"Sleepy," she mumbled.

"I can see that." With a soft laugh, he disentangled himself from her and brought her carefully to rest on the bottom of the saddle instead. Regretfully he moved away from her and made his way up to Appa's head. He took the reins and guided them gently into a soft landing in a moonlit clearing.

By the time they touched down, Katara had properly awakened. She favored him with a sleepy smile, and together they went about unloading the saddle and setting up their campsite. It was a routine that they had perfected over the years, memorizing each others' movements to work in tandem, even with him stiff and exhausted and her half asleep.

They didn't set up a tent, because the sky was clear and the summertime heat was quite enough as it was without enclosing themselves beneath the heavy cloth. They just removed Appa's saddle and set up their bedrolls beside each other before settling in for the night.

When Aang laid down, Katara quickly scooted over to him and laid her head on his chest. One graceful hand came up to trace little circles on his clavicle, sending little sparks straight to every nerve ending in his body. He wrapped an arm around her, not even dreaming of questioning her desire to be close to him in that moment.

Eventually the little movements of her fingers against his chest stilled, and he thought she'd fallen asleep.

He was proven wrong, however, when she abruptly said, "Meeting you is the best thing that ever happened to me, you know."

"What?" he asked, pleasantly startled by her words.

"I was just thinking," she went on. "You worked so hard to convince me to stay with my family this time. You always do that, because you don't want me to regret choosing to spend time with you instead of them. You never say that's why, but I can tell."

"Guilty as charged," he said. "I know your Gran-Gran misses you. But I gotta admit, I'm not following your train of thought at all."

Katara chuckled softly. "There isn't one, really. I just want to make sure you know that as much as I love my family, as happy as I am to see them... well, I love you just as much, and no one makes me happier than you."

Aang gave her a gentle squeeze, hugging her to his side, completely unable to give voice to the brimming warmth her words inspired in him.

"I don't know where I'd be if I hadn't met you," she added.

"Oh, you'd probably have saved the world all by yourself," he said casually.

She swatted him playfully. "Hush, you. I'm being serious. Aang, I don't know if you realize how much you changed my life. And I'm not talking about the Avatar, save-the-world, end-a-century-long-war stuff. I mean just _you_. Sometimes I feel like I was sleepwalking for years, and then you fell into my life and it was like waking up."

He kissed her forehead softly, incredibly moved by her words. "You're sentimental tonight," he observed.

"I just love you a lot."

A quiet laugh escaped him. "I love you a lot, too."

"Gran-Gran was right, you know."

"About what?"

"About something she used to say to me when I was younger." Katara leaned up and pressed a warm, tender kiss to his lips, which Aang welcomed eagerly. She pulled back just enough to whisper against his mouth, "Falling in love with your best friend really is the smartest thing a girl can do."


End file.
